Rosamaria and Ariya’s Story

“I had been making excuses for a long time why I shouldn’t do it. Work is a lot of hours, I didn’t have the time, it just wasn’t worth it. But they had a program at Ariya’s school, only seven minutes from my office – so I decided to give it a shot. That was seven years ago, when Ariya was in second grade, and we just hit it off.

And now Ariya is a very important part of my life. Not only her, but her family, as well. I don’t know if I’d say she’s like a daughter or a sister, but she’s somewhere in between. And you see how mature, how smart she is! Most of the time, I’m learning from her. I feel like she teaches me, like she’s the mentor in the relationship.”

“It’s like getting a new family member. Rosa’s the best, and you really do get this great bond, this life-changing bond. And you get to grow up with each other, and with the other pairs that you’re friends with. And I want to be a mentor when I’m older – I want to be able to make this same kind of difference.”

“We recently met a pair that got matched like 15 years ago – and they’re still so close! It makes me so happy, and so excited to see Ariya grow up and I think God will give her an opportunity to see her dreams come true. And I can’t wait to see it!”